PITTSBURGH — The half-court system, the ever-present patience, the reluctance to open up the offense, Pitt tossed all of that out, even if it was for only one night.

Sam Young and DeJuan Blair wanted to run and jump, steal and dunk, and that's exactly what the Panthers did.

Young and Blair overwhelmed former NAIA power Houston Baptist from the start with a quick and decisive burst of fast-break dunking and rebounding and No. 22 Pittsburgh cruised to a season-opening 103-62 victory Friday.

Young had 22 points and nine rebounds and Blair contributed 20 points, 14 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, and four steals in his first college game. Blair finished one point off Pitt's freshman debut record of 21 by Ricardo Greer in 1997.

"My first game, yeah, I would say it's an excellent game," Blair said.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, 19-0 in November, was concerned because the Huskies (1-2) had played two games, but he need not have worried. With Young and Blair trading alley-oop passes that led to several one-handed jams and a 13-0 Pitt lead in barely four minutes' time, the game was effectively over before the first timeout was called.

"This is the way I've played my whole life," said Young, who felt somewhat restrained in Pitt's more deliberate offense the last two seasons. "I was told to slow down a little bit. I wasn't playing to my strength. I feel the need to make more things happen now."

The Panthers (1-0) couldn't have enjoyed a much better debut as they began the post-Aaron Gray era with only two returning starters from the team that went 29-8 and reached the NCAA round of 16 last season.

"They were so much stronger and more physical," Houston Baptist coach Ron Cottrell said. "I had a feeling they would do more of this. When you lose a player like Aaron, and with the athletes they've brought in, you knew they would be more up and down."

Houston Baptist had no answer for Young, a 6-foot-6 junior who looks much more comfortable than he did while averaging seven points last season, or Blair, a 6-7 freshman who led his Pittsburgh Schenley High team to a Pennsylvania state championship last season.

"Scoring, passing, rebounding, everything he did impressed me," Young said of Blair, Pitt's most highly recruited local player since Dixon took over in 2003.

Blair is replacing the 7-foot Gray at center despite giving up three to four inches to most Big East post players.

Keith Benjamin added 16 points and Mike Cook had 13 for Pitt, which held a 59-32 rebounding edge and had 16 steals to Houston Baptist's four.

"I feel like if I don't get it, Sam is going to get it," Blair said. "When we start shooting from the outside, the sky's the limit."

Dixon isn't promising Pitt will play this way every night. Houston Baptist was content to run despite falling behind early, and Dixon said the opponent set the pace for this game.

"We were able to do some things in transition, and we passed well and rebounded well," Dixon said. "I really liked our passing. This is a very good passing team."